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Set up the Remote Desktop web client for your users

11/2/2018

7 minutes to read

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In this article

The Remote Desktop web client lets users access your organization's Remote Desktop infrastructure through a compatible web browser. They'll be able to interact with remote apps or desktops like they would with a local PC no matter where they are. Once you set up your Remote Desktop web client, all your users need to get started is the URL where they can access the client, their credentials, and a supported web browser.

If you used the web client during the preview period and installed a version prior to 1.0.0, you must first uninstall the old client before moving to the new version. If you receive an error that says "The web client was installed using an older version of RDWebClientManagement and must first be removed before deploying the new version," follow these steps:

Open an elevated PowerShell prompt.

Run Uninstall-Module RDWebClientManagement to uninstall the new module.

Close and reopen the elevated PowerShell prompt.

Run Install-Module RDWebClientManagement -RequiredVersion <old version> to install the old module.

Run Uninstall-RDWebClient to uninstall the old web client.

Run Uninstall-Module RDWebClientManagement to uninstall the old module.

Close and reopen the elevated PowerShell prompt.

Proceed with the normal installation steps as follows.

How to publish the Remote Desktop web client

To install the web client for the first time, follow these steps:

On the RD Connection Broker server, obtain the certificate used for Remote Desktop connections and export it as a .cer file. Copy the .cer file from the RD Connection Broker to the server running the RD Web role.

On the RD Web Access server, open an elevated PowerShell prompt.

On Windows Server 2016, update the PowerShellGet module since the inbox version doesn't support installing the web client management module. To update PowerShellGet, run the following cmdlet:

Install-Module -Name PowerShellGet -Force

Important

You'll need to restart PowerShell before the update can take effect, otherwise the module may not work.

Install the Remote Desktop web client management PowerShell module from the PowerShell gallery with this cmdlet:

Install-Module -Name RDWebClientManagement

After that, run the following cmdlet to download the latest version of the Remote Desktop web client:

Install-RDWebClientPackage

Next, run this cmdlet with the bracketed value replaced with the path of the .cer file that you copied from the RD Broker:

Import-RDWebClientBrokerCert <.cer file path>

Finally, run this cmdlet to publish the Remote Desktop web client:

Publish-RDWebClientPackage -Type Production -Latest

Make sure you can access the web client at the web client URL with your server name, formatted as https://server_FQDN/RDWeb/webclient/index.html. It's important to use the server name that matches the RD Web Access public certificate in the URL (typically the server FQDN).

Note

When running the Publish-RDWebClientPackage cmdlet, you may see a warning that says per-device CALs are not supported, even if your deployment is configured for per-user CALs. If your deployment uses per-user CALs, you can ignore this warning. We display it to make sure you’re aware of the configuration limitation.

When you're ready for users to access the web client, just send them the web client URL you created.

Note

To see a list of all supported cmdlets for the RDWebClientManagement module, run the following cmdlet in PowerShell:

Get-Command -Module RDWebClientManagement

How to update the Remote Desktop web client

When a new version of the Remote Desktop web client is available, follow these steps to update the deployment with the new client:

Open an elevated PowerShell prompt on the RD Web Access server and run the following cmdlet to download the latest available version of the web client:

Install-RDWebClientPackage

Optionally, you can publish the client for testing before official release by running this cmdlet:

Troubleshooting

If a user reports any of the following issues when opening the web client for the first time, the following sections will tell you what to do to fix them.

What to do if the user's browser shows a security warning when they try to access the web client

The RD Web Access role might not be using a trusted certificate. Make sure the RD Web Access role is configured with a publicly trusted certificate.

If that doesn't work, your server name in the web client URL might not match the name provided by the RD Web certificate. Make sure your URL uses the FQDN of the server hosting the RD Web role.

What to do if the user can't connect to a resource with the web client even though they can see the items under All Resources

If the user reports that they can't connect with the web client even though they can see the resources listed, check the following things:

Is the RD Gateway role properly configured to use a trusted public certificate?

Does the RD Gateway server have the required updates installed? Make sure that your server has the KB4025334 update installed.

If the user gets an "unexpected server authentication certificate was received" error message when they try to connect, then the message will show the certificate's thumbprint. Search the RD Broker server's certificate manager using that thumbprint to find the right certificate. Verify that the certificate is configured to be used for the RD Broker role in the Remote Desktop deployment properties page. After making sure the certificate hasn't expired, copy the certificate in .cer file format to the RD Web Access server and run the following command on the RD Web Access server with the bracketed value replaced by the certificate's file path:

Import-RDWebClientBrokerCert <certificate file path>

Diagnose issues with the console log

If you can't solve the issue based on the troubleshooting instructions in this article, you can try to diagnose the source of the problem yourself by watching the console log in the browser. The console is generally located under the developer tools. For example, you can access the log in Edge by pressing the F12 key, or by selecting the ellipsis, then navigating to More tools > Developer Tools.

Get help with the web client

If you've encountered an issue that can’t be solved by the information in this article, you can email us to report it. You can also request or vote for new features at our suggestion box.

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